A ruthless volley of unchecked leg kicks carried Saffiedine to a
unanimous verdict over Marquardt (32-11-2, 1-1 Strikeforce), as he
captured the welterweight championship in the Strikeforce
“Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” headliner on Saturday at the Chesapeake
Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. All three cageside judges awarded
their decision to Saffiedine (14-3, 6-1 Strikeforce): 48-47, 49-46
and 49-46.

Saffiedine established his foothold early, when he sat down
Marquardt with a short, straight right hand while backpedaling. The
champion did his best work in round two, where he struck for a trip
takedown and pressed the Belgian in the clinch. From there,
however, it was all Saffiedine.

The 26-year-old Team Quest representative targeted Marquardt’s lead
leg with power and precision. At the end of four rounds, the
Coloradan’s appendage was a mangled mess, and he had difficulty
walking back to his corner. His short title reign was effectively
over. Saffiedine put the exclamation point on victory in the final
minute of the fight, as he took down Marquardt and tagged him with
some ground-and-pound.

“I’ve been training so hard for so long,” Saffiedine said. “My
kicks are one of my best weapons, and I trained them a lot in
training, so that was kind of my game plan. It’s unbelievable. I
can’t [believe] I’m wearing the belt right now. It’s unreal.”

Staring (28-8, 0-1 Strikeforce) had no chance. Cormier, a two-time
Olympian, struck for multiple takedowns and battered the
34-year-old Dutchman with strikes from top position.

In the second round, Cormier grounded Staring, moved to mount and
fired away until referee “Big” John McCarthy called a stop to the
mismatch.

“I did exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to wrestle him, stand
with him a little bit [and] then control him with the ground
fighting,” Cormier said. “He’s a very tough guy, and he stepped up
when most guys didn’t, when my original opponent went out with an
injury.”

Afterward, the 33-year-old American Kickboxing Academy
representative took aim at former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and
challenged him to a April 20 date inside the Octagon.

Barnett, who had reportedly battled the flu in the weeks leading
into the bout, scored with a takedown and moved immediately to
mount. Soon after, the choke was in place, and the 37-year-old
Guelmino was a beaten man.

Barnett, 35, has rattled off nine wins in his past 10
appearances.

“The plague lords tried to take me out, throwing viruses through my
whole camp,” he said. “I haven’t had maybe more than two good days
of training this whole camp. It just goes to show that if you’re an
ass-kicker, if you’re a real mean machine, then you get your mind
right and take people out. You don’t sit around bitching and
complaining and throwing your excuses around. You get in there and
die like a man, or you leave your opponent dead and stand
victorious.”

Mousasi (33-3-2, 4-1-1 Strikeforce) struck for a takedown 3:04 into
the match, softened him with punches and elbows from top position
and moved to mount. From there, the Holland-based 27-year-old
unleashed his hands and forced Kyle to surrender his back.

The choke followed soon after.

“I got more professional, I think. I got out of my comfort zone and
stepped up the training. I have to thank all my coaches and friends
for helping me,” Mousasi said. “He’s a strong guy. He’s a
heavyweight, and I didn’t need to cut a lot of weight for this
fight, maybe five pounds. He’s a strong guy, and I wish him the
best.”